Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty. Luca Petrasso. Jacob Shaffelburg. Kosi Thompson. Jayden Nelson …
The list continues to grow of young Toronto FC Academy players who have impressed during the early 2022 MLS seasons. TFC’s homegrown players, Noble Okello and Ralph Priso have all played first team minutes in this season’s MLS season. TFC’s next-man up mindset has helped to ensure that performances don’t drop off in the absence or suspension of key players and has continued to produce results, with three wins and one draw in their four last matches.
Sean Pollock l Waking The Red
TFC has 10th youngest MLS team with an average age 25 years and 184 Days. TFC had three players who had never played professional mens soccer (Kerr-Petrasso, Thompson), and three more who had never been in the MLS (Chung Jimenez, MacNaughton), while three additional players had never been in the MLS (Marshall–Rutty Nelson, Perruzza)
Many of the players mentioned have easily integrated into the team, and continue to improve with more playing time. Bob Bradley has created a positive environment for TFC’s young players. TFC did not manage to replicate this environment and the academy was significantly less successful as a consequence.
Bob has created a perfect environment for youth in three ways:
- TFC Squad overhaul and maintaining a veteran presence in team’s spine
Bob made a significant impact on the 2020 TFC squad by selling, trading out, buying out, or lending away 21 first-team players this past off-season. Bob was heavily criticized by a large portion of the fanbase during the 2022 offseason as well as the first three games in the 2022 MLS season for selling, trading, buying out, and loaning away 21 players. Four games later, the tune has changed.
Sean Pollock l Waking The Red
Bob was able restructure his team by retaining only homegrown talent and veteran players he knew would be supportive of his culture reset. A strong spine is an essential component of any soccer team.
The central positions of goalkeepers, centre backs, central midfielders and sometimes strikers make up the spine for a soccer team. Bob saved the best for his veterans in all of these positions, which is not surprising.
Alex Bono, TFC’s goalkeeper, has been with the club from 2015. Carlos Salcedo and Shane ONeill are TFC’s goalkeepers. They have at least two years of MLS experience, as well as multiple years of experience in top international leagues.
Sean Pollock l Waking The Red
Jonathan Osorio, Michael Bradley and Michael Bradley are the club’s most prominent all-time players. Osorio is a TFC academy graduate and Bradley is close to 300 appearances.
Alejandro Pozuelo, a former MLS MVP in the fourth year of his association with the club, is right in front. Jesus Jimenez, a 28-year-old newcomer to the MLS is a former MVP in his fourth year with the club. He has a track record that includes success in Spain’s lower divisions and Poland’s top flight.
The veteran players have provided mentorship and playing structure for the youth. Every player earns their minutes by working hard on both ends of the field. There is a sense that everyone is accountable.
2. Offering youth opportunities and using a tactical strategy that allows for mistakes at the periphery
It is not enough to have the right culture and veteran players within the team’s spine. Although these two elements were present under previous TFC managers, academy players generally failed to succeed.
Bob has given academy players ample opportunities to earn their time, but he also allows them to make mistakes and learn. If things didn’t go according to plan, it would have been easy for veteran players to be a dependable source of support. Instead, he uses the 2022 season’s early parts to assess what he has in his younger player and the limited alternatives to them in wide roles.
Sean Pollock l Waking The Red
Bob has also tactically set up the team to limit the impact of the mistakes made by the younger players and the core decision making. He has focused TFCs build-up and attack on the team’s spine. Players have shown a tendency for Osorio or Michael Bradley to play the ball centrally when TFC advance the ball upfield or win the ball back from opponents turnovers. Both serve as TFC’s fulcrum, dictating pace and direction of attack.
Once the ball is in the final third of field, the wide players and attacking midfielder take over. If they can’t find an opening in defense, they will pass back the ball to the fulcrums for a reset of the attacking phase. The veteran fulcrums can help design the ball progression and attack so that young wide players don’t turn the ball over. TFCs fulcrums are partly responsible for the inability to afford younger academy players such as Okello or Priso the same opportunities.
Advanced statistics show that this TFC team has outperformed. It is important to remember that this team is still in the first year of a rebuild. While the style of play cannot be evaluated yet, the team should be enjoying the effort they have collectively made to win. They were not expected to be very successful until reinforcements arrived in the summer, and Bob had more time for finding the best players for his preferred style of play.
TFCs young athletes are building confidence in their abilities, and continue to thrive. It is forcing people to reconsider what this team could become. Bob and the coaching staff should be commended for creating an environment that is conducive to the development of young players, especially in TFCs academy.
The road ahead is not easy. With more film, opposing teams will begin to adapt to TFC. The form of the player (and overall team) will eventually begin to decline. TFC’s young players will have to adapt to those situations. This will be their next learning curve.
